Just 8% of eligible prisoners registered to vote in 2022 council election

Less than one in 12 prisoners eligible to vote registered to have their say in the most recent Scottish elections, a new report has revealed.

The Scottish Government paper conceded that “levels of engagement with voting amongst the eligible prisoner population remain low”.

It comes after a change in the law, which took effect in April 2020, allowed convicted prisoners serving a sentence of 12 months or less to cast their ballot in both local government and Scottish Parliament elections.

The Government report shows that in the first election after the law change, the Holyrood ballot in 2021, only 38 eligible prisoners registered to vote.

However the report noted that “both the prison population and preparations for the 2021 election were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic”, with the number of inmates on short sentences reduced as a result.

In the council elections in May 2022, there were 604 prisoners eligible to vote but only 49 registered to do so.

The report said: “In summary, around 8% of eligible prisoners registered to vote in the 2022 local government elections.”

A prisoner survey last year suggested there is a “need for improved information on candidates and their policies during an election campaign”, the report said, noting that inmates are able to watch television but only have restricted access to the internet.

The Scottish Government now intends to review the processes surrounding prisoner voting registration, the report said, along with greater awareness raising.

Discussions are also taking place with the Scottish Prison Service and the Electoral Commission on “ways in which further information on election campaigning could be provided to prisoners”.